Opinion
Mint Quick Edit | ‘Apple carve-out’ lessons for India
Summary
- The US has given Apple’s iPhones and other electronic imports an escape hatch from its trade war. Given India’s manufacturing rivalry with China, Trump’s tariff exemption is notable in more than one way.
In the latest tariff war twist, the US exempted several products, including smartphones and computers, from its reciprocal levies. Among Big Tech beneficiaries in America, it comes as terra-byte-sized relief for Apple, which had a carve-out even from the trade war with China during Donald Trump’s first term as US president; iPhones shipped to America from China would seem to have a charmed existence—even if the exemption proves temporary.
Also Read: Mint Quick Edit | Apple’s airlift: A good sign for India?
The fortunes of a big US business would’ve got clobbered this time too, had a 145% tariff on shipments from China been applied to every item, as investors expected till that news broke. Social-media memes on sky-high iPhone price tags had spread too, as if to exemplify what US consumers were in for.
Also Read: Think different: Consider a smartphone tariff cut to sustain an Apple-led export boom
Back in India, this reversal in US trade policy offers some lessons. For one, the ideological aspect of US self-sufficiency can rank lower in the White House calculus than big business interests. For another, expectations of major gains from Trump’s trade war in India’s manufacturing-hub rivalry with China need to be tempered.
Also Read: Trump tariffs: The global bond market achieved what diplomacy couldn’t
India can’t count on tariff arbitrage to become Apple’s big factory, for example, under current settings. But then, the reign of uncertainty means very few safe bets exist.
